St. Joseph Mercy Oakland’s $145 million South Patient Tower opens in May

St. Joseph Mercy Oakland President and CEO Jack Weiner, left, and Shannon Striebach, vice president of operations, during a hard-hat tour Wednesday of the hospital’s new, $145 million South Patient Tower. After it opens, all patients at the hospital will be in private rooms, Weiner said. Tim Thompson-The Oakland Press

Dr. Fabian Fregoli, chief informatics officer at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland, describes the technology at a nurses’ station in the hospital’s new South Patient Tower. Tim Thompson-The Oakland Press

FYI

A community open house for the new South Tower at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 26 at the hospital, 44405 Woodward Avenue in Pontiac.

PONTIAC >> When the first patients move into St. Joseph Mercy Oakland’s new, $145 million South Patient Tower in May, they’ll see a building that’s been designed to be anything but institutional.

The eight-story tower features larger patient rooms with a designated family area, technology that better connects caregivers to patients and artwork entirely by Michigan residents.

“If we were going to provide health care for the future, we needed a unifying theme around it in order to look at how the world was changing,” said Jack Weiner, president and CEO of St. Joseph Mercy Oakland.

That theme means “care must be personalized and individualized — almost mass customization,” Weiner said.

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The hospital’s intensive care and critical care units will move into the new facility, along with other specialized units such as a Joint Care Center.

The architectural firm behind the South Tower and its curved, brushed-steel-and-glass appearance, HKS, Inc., is known for both entertainment and health care work, Weiner said.

When the project was planned, he said the question was asked: “How do we make more of a statement?”

The new building, which has 204 beds, will not change the hospital’s total number of 443 licensed beds. Some older rooms in the hospital will be shut down as patients are moved to the South Patient Tower in May, Weiner said.

On patient floors, a sensor attached to handwashing stations identifies caregivers using a radio signal as they enter and exit rooms.

The sanitation feature is a part of a broader technology effort known as the “Intelligent Care System.”

There are three nurse stations on each patient floor, with a computer workstation between every two rooms. Nurses will carry iPhones that receive alerts from in-room equipment, such as cardiac monitors, and the patients’ remote controls include buttons for pain and other complaints that send alerts to the appropriate staff.

A family area in each room features a Wieland sofa bed with a pop-up table, as well as separate adjustments for lighting and television volume and an electrical outlet for charging phones and computer equipment. The hospital’s CEO said the design reflects today’s world.

“It’s a recognizing that family members don’t come in for two hours anymore. They come in all day.” Accommodations are in place for as many as six people visiting one patient.

“Smart beds” in South Patient Tower are integrated with patients’ electronic health record, and perform functions such as alerting staff when a patient who is at risk for falling tries to get out of bed, said Dr. Fabian Fregoli, the hospital’s chief informatics officer.

“It flags (nurses’) iPhones, so they come to the rescue before the patient falls.”

As part of the hospital’s “Healing Arts Program,” pieces from more than 80 Michigan artists in the South Patient Tower include: “Resurgence III,” by Troy resident Glenn Michaels, in the lobby; the glass-blowing installation “Bello Fiori (Beautiful Flowers),” by Franklin resident April Wagner, whose studio is located in Pontiac; sculptures by Erik and Israel Nordin; and a fountain feature in the lobby with a glass mosaic by Jacqui Ridley and Morrine Maltzman.

The completion of South Patient Tower follows a two-year, three-phase project at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland that’s also included the building of a maintenance substation and a walkway over Woodward Avenue that connects to parking areas.

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